As a lad, I enjoyed playing with trains. Each car and engine were coupled together and each train performed according to its purpose. My passenger trains delivered imaginary people to their town and country destinations and the freight trains delivered needed goods to various industries along the track. As engineer my job was to ‘couple’ the cars to their engines, keep the tracks clear, and make sure the engines didn’t go too fast around the curves.
Sometimes I’d ‘uncouple’ the cars from their engines and park them along the sidetrack. Sometimes the cars become disengaged on their own, particularly when they hit a rough spot in the tracks. Disengagement always resulted in one of two things: inactivity, or worse, a derailment.
We all experience some level of disengagement in our lives. Our mind wanders when we intend it to stay focused. Work becomes tedious or boring. Relationships meant to be at the center of our lives become side tracked in the pursuit of other activities. Goals and projects get set aside, sometimes for months and years, as we find it difficult to remain engaged with them.
Sometimes we purposefully disengage to gain perspective and “recharge our batteries.” In order to solve a problem it’s often beneficial to disengage for a moment, step back, and look at the bigger picture. Vacations, reading a book, or a walk through the garden perform a similar rejuvenating purpose. These types of disengagement are helpful because they are both temporary and purposefully intended to help us get back on track with renewed energy and perspective.
But there is a danger of disengaging when it leads to becoming sidetracked for periods of time. We are meant to be connected – with life, with each other, and with God. The longer we are disengaged, the more we are likely to forget our original purpose. When we lose interest or allow ourselves to become burned out, we start to feel it would be better to just step aside or go through the motions of being connected when we really aren’t fully engaged.
We could blame others, saying “If only my job were more interesting.” “If only my spouse were more understanding.” “If only my church were more relevant.” A recent study by the Pew Research Center reveals a growing number of millennials disengaging from the church and even their faith, leading one observer to conclude, “Older generations of Americans are not passing along the Christian faith as effectively as their forebears.” And it’s true, isn’t it? Aren’t we responsible to pass on knowledge, skills and even our faith to others, especially to our children?
And yet, we all contribute to our own disengagement. We each are responsible for staying coupled with our faith and life purpose. It’s our responsibility to fight boredom and distraction, our distinct calling to avoid identifying ourselves with the world when our true identity is found in our relationship with God.
Disengaging from our life activities and relationships is not just like getting side tracked by wandering thoughts during a long speech. Prolonged disengagement has the tendency to derail our lives causing tragic losses. One of the surest ways of losing a job, a marriage, a friendship, or your faith, is to begin sentences with the words, “I hate.”
When we couple our activities and relationships to our negative feelings and thoughts, they always take us farther down the track than we want to go and to a place we didn’t intend to visit…usually a dead-end side track.
If you find yourself side tracked from your real purpose in life or if you discover you’re being pulled down the wrong track by negative thoughts and emotions, maybe it’s time to switch engines. Couple yourself with God’s Word and the hope He offers. Find ways to connect with God frequently throughout your daily activities. Set your mind on your desired destination and stay on track.
